INTRODUCTION. THE earth, the sky, the sea, and the "waters under the earth," abound with marvels calculated to excite astonishment and profound veneration for the Divine agency through which they have severally been wrought. The tiniest blade of grass, the smallest imaginable drop of water, the minutest grain of sand, the slightest particle of impalpable air, is to the reflective mind an object of special wonderment, offering a wide field for patient investigation. But how much more deeply is human admiration stirred by the contemplation of the stupendous works with which the Almighty has signified His power and His designs! The lofty mountains, rugged, snow-clad, and inaccessible, whose summits are lost in the clouds; the tremendous cataracts, which, born of the mountains, feed the lakes, the rivers, the ocean itself; the terrible volcanoes, which send forth their devastating fires from the very bosom of the earth; the deep caverns, which attest the marvellous changes the structure of our globe has undergone in the lapse of ages-all, all fill the mind with awe, and dispose the heart to piety. Yet even these miraculous works, which have received certain interpretations through the labours and researches of geologists, are exceeded in grandeur by the mysteries of the elements. The forked lightning, the aurora borealis, the unseen winds, the countless stars, the wandering comets, the flashing meteors, the silver moon, the great sun itself, and the revolutions of the planet on which we live, are so many evidences of the existence of a Great Power, whose ways are inscrutable, and to whom the soul of man is entirely responsible. It was well said by one of our poets, that in the contemplation of the works of Nature we approximate to a view of Nature's God. The sleight of hand of the conjuror may excite our curiosity-we proceed to investigation; the paltry arts by which we have suffered our understanding to be temporarily perplexed are at once laid bare, and we laugh at the man's dexterity. But it is far otherwise with the glorious objects which are beneficently exposed to our view in each hemisphere-beneath each zone-in every climateby the bounteous and unseen hand of the Great Architect of the universe. We behold, we reflect, we endeavour to comprehend the mighty mysteries; we rise to the clouds which envelop the mountain-tops, and dig deep into the earth; we sound the ocean, and lay bare the forest; and though much is disclosed to our spirit of inquiry, there is still an INFINITE beyond, which we are utterly overwhelmed in attempting to penetrate. We feel abashed at the futility of our endeavours, our helplessness and insignificance, and retire full of admiration of the sublimity of the handiwork of Heaven, and of gratitude for the mercy vouchsafed to us by a Power whose will controls the destinies of our existence and determines our eternal beatitude. In the volume which we now issue we have endeavoured to convey, by description and pictorial illustration, some idea of the principal wonders of the world of Nature, and of the emotions they create and the inquiries they suggest. They are indeed but a feeble and imperfect index to the grand realities; but if we should, through their medium, have happily succeeded in awakening a taste for further research in the same broad and affluent realm, and impressed the reader with a profound adoration of the Author of all such extraordinary manifestations, our labours will have received an ample and gratifying recognition. |